Spontaneous Mad Cow

Two cases of mad cow in the last year and half in the U.S. have scientists scratching their heads. Early results may suggest that cows can spontaneously come down with mad cow at older ages.

(MSNBC/AP)Two cases of mad cow disease in Texas and Alabama seem to have resulted from a mysterious strain that could appear spontaneously in cattle, researchers say.

Government officials are trying to play down differences between the two U.S. cases and the mad cow epidemic that has led to the slaughter of thousands of cattle in Britain since the 1980s.

Here is the reassuring part.

Meanwhile, mad cow research has been halted at the Agriculture DepartmentÂ’s lab in Ames, Iowa, because of employee allegations that the lab improperly was disposing of animal waste.

If they can't handle mad cow, which has been around for years, how will they handle an impending bird flu outbreak?